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Bruce Mau Design (BMD) has designed all Zone publications since 1985.
This has allowed the BMD to develop Zone's image and identity over time and to explore certain terrain that
would not have been accessible in the "one-off" productions of conventional publishing.
The driving force of Zone's design is always content. Engaging the content drives the
forward momentum and is key to a design that constantly renews itself. In addition,
Zone books are designed with the assumption of an intelligent readership; the person
who picks up the book can navigate even the most demanding configurations. It means,
for example, that the studio can elaborate metaphors and make sophisticated allusions.
A sample of the BMD books in The Art of the Book
exhibit includes:
(Click on images larger view)
Frank Gehry: New Bentwood Furniture
Designs. Montreal: The Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts,
1992.
This exhibition catalogue for Frank Gehry's new bentwood furniture line, produced by The
Knoll Group, was conceived in three parts. The first section documents the Gehry workshop; the second outlines the
development of the prototypes and production pieces; and the third presents an essay that
contextualizes the work in the history of bentwood furniture. Bruce Mau asked Knoll to
send the studio a piece of the maplewood they were using for the furniture. A scan was made of it for the cover and a strip of hockey tape used for the spine.
The Libertine Reader: Eroticism and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century France
Edited by Michel Feher. New York: Zone Books, 1997.
The Libertine Reader is a compilation of erotic letters, fiction, and other texts from
eighteenth-century France including selected texts by authors such as Crébillon fils,
Choderlos de Laclos, and the Marquis de Sade. The soft cover is a weave of colorfully
manipulated details taken from two works by Fragonard, The Furtive Kiss and The Bolt.
A removable, translucent vellum dust jacket acts as protective lingerie. When the vellum
is removed, the cover image beneath it stands alone naked, harmless, and discreet.
The Libertine Reader becomes a private book, one that can be read in public on the subway.
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